Dumb
by CheekyBrunette
Summary: Carlos gets a bad grade on a test, so what else is new?  But when Logan offers to help, he accidentily makes things worse.  A touching one-shot with all four guys being all cute.  I don't own BTR, but I wish!


**I know, I know. "CheekyBrunette! What are you doing? Update a multi-chapter, don't do one-shots!" Yes, yes, yes. I just needed a mini break, plus this has been on my mind for, like, EVER! And I'm in a really Carlos-y mood, plus I like a sad Logan. So I hope this is touching. It would have been in "Back in the Days", but I wanted this NOW! So yep.**

Carlos gripped his test papers tightly in his hands, heart falling at the sight of every circled question. Red ink marred each page, and a large zero glared up at him from the front, top corner. He crumpled the sheet in his hands and stuffed it into his backpack.

"Hey, Carlitos," grinned James, coming up to him after class. "Hope you did better than me on the test," he said, wincing at his own grade.

"I did bad," he confessed. "But what do superheroes have to know about math anyway?" he smiled, refusing to show just how much his test effected him. James ruffled his hair and batted Carlos's hand away as he tried to mess up his.

"No one, repeat, NO ONE touches the hair!" he yelled. Carlos laughed, but his heart wasn't all in it. He yelped when someone tasered him, whirling around to face a smirking Kendall.

"So did you guys get your tests back?" he asked. James nodded somberly.

"Yeah, 76," he admitted regretfully.

"Hey, that's not bad!" Kendall said, encouraging his friend with a playful punch on the arm. James grimaced, rubbing the spot where Kendall hit. Sometimes the kid just forgot how strong he really was.

"What'd you get?" Carlos asked Kendall, not sure he really wanted to know. This was the part he always hated after tests, finding out how much better everyone else did.

"An 84," he answered, puffing his chest out in pride and holding his head high. Carlos stifled a groan. _At least Logan's not here._

"Hey, guys!" Logan's voice piped up beside him. _Darn it._ If there was one thing Carlos did _not_ need, it was Logan offering to help him study, or give him test-taking advice, or look at him in that infuriating, pitying way he had. If anything could possibly make him feel dumber, it would be Logan trying to "help" him.

"Hi, Logie," he replied, masking the irritation leaking through his voice with Logan's nick name. James gave him a crooked look, but if Logan noticed, he didn't show it.

"So how'd your tests go?" he asked.

"I got a B, James got a _high_ C," Kendall began emphasizing the 'high', "Carlos got… Well, I don't know what Carlos got, but, lemme guess, you got a 100 percent?" Logan's sheepish grin told them Kendall was right.

"So, Carlos, how did you do?" he asked trying to shift the weight of their attention off of him and onto someone else. Carlos's gaze fell to the floor.

"It's not important…" he mumbled, feeling awkward.

"You can tell us," Kendall assured him, looking a little hurt. He wanted Carlos to be able to trust him with anything, and Carlos knew he could, but with Logan and his perfect score… he didn't exactly want to share in nonexistent one. He sighed, knowing Kendall would get it out of him soon enough anyway, and spilled.

"I failed." Kendall and James merely nodded, while Logan's eyes immediately softened in empathy.

"Oh, man. That's rough, Carlos. Do you want me to look at it and see if I can find you any more points? Or I could talk with Mrs. Kahliberi and try to get you a retest? I'd help you study if you want-"

"I'm fine," Carlos cut him off, failing to keep the bite he was feeling out of his voice, and snapping at him. Logan cringed, and Carlos, instantly feeling guilty, lowered his voice. "I don't want to make you go to the trouble," he lied. Logan relaxed a bit.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't be a trouble at all. If you want, I'd even loan you my flash cards, and you could come over to my house to study, and…" Logan's excited voice filled Carlos's head as he rambled on about all the ways he could help him. Carlos found himself getting angry. He couldn't take it anymore. "And then-"

"SHUT UP!" Carlos burst. "I don't want your pity, I don't want your help, and I don't want you!" With one look at Logan's pained face, he already felt guilty. However, before he could say anything more, let alone stop glaring at Logan, James and Kendall had already swept in.

James gripped him by the arm and dragged him away from a shocked, scared looking Logan, and into the boy's bathroom. James pushed him into a stall and quickly locked the door behind them. "Why'd you say that?" the taller boy growled, crossing his arms protectively.

Carlos squirmed uncomfortably, "I didn't-"

"Guys?" Kendall's voice interrupted him. James silently unlocked the door and let the blonde in.

"Where's Logan?" Carlos gulped.

"Class," Kendall answered tersly. There was a pause. "You know, he said it was nothing," he continued, voice tight. "But I think he was just protecting you."

Carlos looked at his toes guiltily. "You're mad at me?" he asked, ashamed. Kendall sighed.

"No, just… confused." Kendall locked eyes on Carlos. Without taking them off him, he said to James, "James, don't miss class." James nodded in understanding, knowing it probably be best if Kendall talked to him alone. He ducked out of the stall. Kendall looked at Carlos expectantly.

"I don't know why I yelled," Carlos lied, not wanting to talk about his dumbness, though he knew it was coming regardless.

"I do," Kendall said, and Carlos looked at him, confused. Kendall nodded at his quizzical expression. "Logan makes you feel stupid sometimes, right?" Carlos gaped.

"How did you-"

"Cause does that to me, too," he said with a shrug. Carlos's mind reeled. _'Kendall feels stupid? But Kendall's so smart! How could he think that?' _"Everytime I get a bad grade, Logan has to feel all bad for me and tries to help me get a better one. It seems like he thinks I can't do it on my own." Carlos's mouth hung open. That was _exactly_ how he felt.

"But, Kendall, You're smart!" he exclaimed. "I'm not."

"Yes you are, Carlos. I know that, James knows that, and even Logan knows that!" Carlos rolled his eyes.

"No he doesn't," he said, thinking back to the pity that shone in Logan's eyes.

"Yeah, he does. He's just on a different plane than us." At Carlos's lost expression, he continued. "You know how Logan cries at a low A, and we all cheer at it?" Carlos nodded. "Well, to Logan, a 90 is a zero on a paper. Anything less than that is completely incomprehensible. He just doesn't get it. So he hears that, and it's like telling him your dog died or something. Look, studying is all Logan does. To him, offering to loan you his notes is like offering to tape your hockey stick, and doing your homework together is like hitting the ice. He's just different from us."

The late bell rang, and the boys ran to class, Carlos feeling worse than ever. It didn't help when Logan wouldn't meet his eyes.

* * *

Carlos plopped down next to Logan on the bus, and winced at the other boy's cringe. He's been avoiding Carlos all day, and he was out to do something about.

"Hey," Carlos said awkwardly.

"Hey," Logan echoed, staring intently at the zipper on his backpack. They were quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry," they said at once. "What? I said, 'I'm sorry'," they continued in unison.

"Wait, why are _you_ sorry?" Carlos asked. Logan shrugged.

"Cause I hurt your feelings."

"Oh," Carlos mumbled, feeling horribly uncomfortable. He chewed his thumbnail. "You didn't try to…" Logan fumbled with the straps to his book bag, refusing to meet his eyes.

"But I did," he said, biting his lip and tears welling in his eyes. "And now you hate me." Logan's voice was tight, and Carlos felt terrible to think he had made him so upset. He wrapped him in a hug, and Logan held his arm close to his chest. Carlos could feel it heave as Logan held back guilty sobs.

"Logie…" Carlos said soothingly, not exactly sure where to go. However, the fail-safe nickname worked its charm, and Carlos felt him relax. Logan looked at him misty eyed.

"Yeah?"

"I don't hate you. You were just being an awesome friend, and I was being an idiot." Carlos bit back and 'as usual'.

"Carlos, you're not an idiot. You're just smart at other things." Carlos shook his head, opening his mouth to say he was wrong, but Logan stopped him. "If you were an idiot, you wouldn't be able to successfully attach rockets to your roller blades, figure out how to use a bra as a sling shot, or turn a mechanical pencil into a spitball shooter." Logan smiled at the last one, "actually, the Spitball Slinger X5 took genius." Carlos looked confused.

"But I got in trouble for all that stuff," he said, remembering all the time he had spent grounded in his room.

"Genius is for granted," Logan answered bluntly. Carlos nodded in false understanding. The gist was there.

Soon, the boys were talking about how cool it would be to have Gordon Bombay as a coach, and everything was completely forgotten. In the seat behind them, James mournfully handed Kendall a five dollar bill. It was that day he learned never to bet against any of them making up before the day ended.

**AGH! Corny ending… Sorry guys…**

**My dog is trying to bury his bone in the couch, but there's no dirt. My mom says that's how you get a neurotic dog, and then told my sister to go give him a blanket so he could cover it and feel better. He's all stressed cause she didn't. HAHAHA! Now he's licking my socked feet and it tickles to death. WHY!**


End file.
